Artists under the Rebirth of the Coal Boss

Chapter 245 The Public Opinion War of the Golden Wind
Room 608, 6/F, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, 66 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The ornately patterned huanghuali table is decorated with documents, a photo of the father and son, and the trophy for the "Golden Melody Silver Jubilee Honor Award" at the 25th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards, which was just awarded this year.

Zheng Donghan leaned back in his office chair, sixty years of history etched into his wrinkles. His silver hair was neatly combed, and a Padron 45 Maduro cigar flickered between his fingers, exhaling smoke.

…………

The secretary reported on the progress of business with the mainland side: "Mr. Zheng, Zhou Bichang's matter has been settled. She has agreed to sign a contract with our company according to the third version of the formal contract."

Zheng Donghan nodded: "Put more publicity materials on, follow the letter of intent, and be careful to keep it confidential."

The secretary replied, "Understood! Promote it according to the eight-figure signing fee in the letter of intent!"

"The confidentiality agreement will be signed next week, don't worry! Given her current situation, I believe she wouldn't dare to say anything reckless!"

Zheng Donghan, with a cigar between his fingers, said, "Okay, then I'll call Song Ke and ask Taihe Wheatfield to drop the lawsuit against Zhou Bichang."

"Have Huang Weijing, the general manager of Tianyu Media and Linle Media's mainland branch, invite the two CEOs to dinner!"

"Give those media figures from the mainland a big red envelope and let them go."

The secretary jotted it down in her notebook, then set up the cigar rack and whispered a suggestion: "Mr. Zheng, we could actually try to negotiate a lower price with Zhou Bichang..."

"She was sidelined by Lelin Culture for a year, her career stalled, and now she's embroiled in Man Wenjun's scandal, which has severely damaged her public image..."

Zheng Donghan exhaled a puff of his cigar and said, "No need. There's a big shot in Taibei who really likes her type. He'll give her a year. If it doesn't work out, he'll let her go down the public relations singer route."

The secretary said, "Public relations singer route? But her family has some connections; her great-uncle was the first chairman of the Musicians Association."

Zheng Donghan waved the cigar in his hand and said dismissively, "You said yourself that he's my great-uncle!"

“Their house color has long since faded; it’s not even a pale red anymore.”

“I arranged for someone to investigate in Shenzhen. During the reform of the cultural troupe, my mother only managed to get a position as a primary school music teacher.”

"If they really had strong connections, why would they have been blacklisted and sidelined by LeLin Culture until their contract expired?"

The secretary thought for a moment and agreed, "Indeed, if the suspension is due to the contract, then it's all business."

"But this time, her involvement in the Manwen Army incident has made the problem more serious, yet her legendary family background still hasn't come into play."

"Now it seems that it's not that we don't want to put in the effort, but rather that we have the will but not the strength!"

Zheng Donghan put his half-smoked cigar on the cigar rack and said, "Creating public opinion is the best way to test an artist's worth."

“I remember when we were developing the Taibei market for EMI, the contract amount was blank.”

"Back then, things weren't as civilized as they are now. It wasn't about creating public pressure, but about causing real trouble, stirring things up, and testing the other side's strength!"

"Let the local gangsters cause trouble for the other party. If the other party can find someone of considerable influence to settle the matter, we'll pay them based on the influence of that person."

"If the other party is a sucker who's easy prey and can't fight back when bullied, then we'll stick to the low-salary contract. I've even given them a 15-year contract with no salary before..."

"Back then, with this skill, I raised EMI's market share in Taibei to number one in just one year, setting a record for Chinese people managing international business!!"

The secretary flattered, "Pathé's business in Taibei is still relying on the foundation you laid back then..."

Zheng Donghan waved his hand and said, "Of course, there are times when we suffer great losses."

"Back then, we brought in a newcomer, Wang Yu, who had become infamous because of the Xinghua Pavilion massacre, which caused the company to spend a lot of money to settle the matter."

The secretary used a cigar cutter to trim the burnt end that had naturally extinguished and cooled, then placed the remaining cigar into the storage box, saying:
"Mr. Zheng, what about resources?"

"The Hunan TV anniversary gala, 'A Lifetime of Family Reunion,' was originally intended for her."

"General Manager Huang suggested Xu Wei, whose five-city tour concerts were all sold out, and the scene of tens of thousands of people singing along even made it to the top of Weibo's trending topics on the mainland!"

Zheng Donghan made a decision, saying, "No! This resource should still be given to her!"

"It would be best if she could become famous! Let her incur favors, and if she still fades into obscurity after a year, then let her maintain connections in the Taibei market and become a social singer!"

The secretary said, puzzled, "Zhou Bichang isn't exactly a good-looking singer. The big shots in Taibei are all quite picky eaters."

Zheng Donghan said, "You don't understand, family background makes it relatable!"

"This is just like the ancient Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment district), where people came from scholarly families and official families..."

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Since the beginning of the millennium, the strategy of maximizing profits by manipulating public opinion has become a basic skill for various film and television companies with the popularization of the internet...

Gold Typhoon's signing of Zhou Bichang was a classic battle in 2009, a lesson taught to their mainland counterparts by a veteran Hong Kong and Taiwan record company operating under a capitalist market!

At that time, Zhou Bichang had breached contracts with Tianyu Media and Lelin Culture. After two consecutive breaches, he paid 250 million yuan in penalties, not only borrowed money from private lenders at high interest rates, but was also suspended by the company for nearly a year.

During this period, there were no job offers, and the assistant was also dismissed by Lelin Culture.

…………

Zhou Bichang's continuous contract termination disputes have earned her a reputation as "difficult to work with" within the industry, causing mainland entertainment companies to avoid her altogether.

At this time, Gold Typhoon, which was just entering the mainland market, began to contact Zhou Bichang.

It turns out that this runner-up from the 05 "Super Girl" competition is still arrogant and has actually put forward a bunch of conditions!

Zhou Bichang's confidence comes from his upcoming new album, "Time".

This album was created during her year-long ban, and she scraped together all her savings to raise funds for its release.

…………

Upon learning of this, Zheng Donghan said, "We're taking in a dog! First, treat everyone to some good food, then make sure to break its legs, and finally, we can slowly adopt it!"

"That way she'll realize how good you are! And that'll make her listen to you!"

So, Gold Typhoon invited friends from Taihe Rye Music, EE-Media, Lelin Culture, and entertainment reporters from several newspapers to scrap the album.

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At that time, the Manchu Army Incident broke out...

Some entertainment reporters received a press release, purportedly from Taihe Rye Music, claiming that Zhou Bichang was involved in mulberry-related issues.

Taihe Wheatfield immediately issued a statement claiming that the email was forged.

They stated that this was not an ordinary prank, but a targeted act of sabotage, but did not explicitly identify the suspect.
Then, within just 36 hours, Tianyu Media and Lelin Culture also released press releases implying that Zhou Bichang had used mulberries, leading to mental instability and causing him to terminate his contract with the two companies.

Things started to escalate...

At this time, Taihe Rye Music, Tianyu Media, and Lelin Culture jointly sued Zhou Bichang, claiming that Zhou Bichang's involvement in the mulberry incident was a self-directed and self-acted act to frame him!

Zhou Bichang's former assistant also came forward to testify!
…………

Zhou Bichang was completely taken aback and was knocked down.

The new song was pulled from shelves in major Xinhua bookstores and record stores before it was even released, and commercial activities were also canceled...

It wasn't until Zhou Bichang signed with Gold Typhoon that this happened.

Time is back in print!!

The album remained on the G-music album sales chart for 13 weeks and won second place on the FAB Chinese Music Annual Album Chart.

From then on, Zhou Bichang officially emerged from her slump.

………………

After discussing the signing of the artists...

Zheng Donghan poured himself a glass of cherry brandy and said confidently, "How's that mainland guy doing?"

"I spent five million Hong Kong dollars to avenge my son! I have to do it well!"

The secretary, while looking at the latest data compiled in the office on her phone, said:
"Someone has checked the situation!"

"Tiger Shadow Star Shine's parent company is a mainland coal company. Now that the coal market is not good, the company has transformed and entered the entertainment industry."

"In addition to film and television production companies, we have also invested in film and television cities and cinema chains."

"For example, the recent acquisition of Golden Harvest Cinemas by Tiger Roaring Kirin Cinemas has been very popular."

"This kind of 'big fish' who stumbled into the entertainment industry by accident is, to put it mildly, completely inexperienced in dealing with the storms of public opinion in the entertainment world..."

The secretary looked at the latest document sent to the office, staring at the numbers on it, her voice trembling slightly, and said:
"Public opinion...exploded...exploded..."

Zheng Donghan said with a smile, "That's exactly what happened! Besides giving me the money, I also made several phone calls!"

"I got to know many of those media outlets and newspapers in mainland China before 97, when we were doing cultural exchange activities in Singapore and Macau!"

The secretary stammered, "Mr. Zheng, no, it's the song that Lin Xingzhuo and Asa sang. It's a huge hit in mainland China! A massive success!!"

Zheng Donghan: ? ? ?

(End of this chapter)